This invention relates generally to sound reproduction on a personal computer. More particularly, it relates to a speaker system and its use for a multimedia, personal computer to deliver a high quality sound to a user sitting in close proximity to the computer display without disturbing others nearby.
High quality sound reproduction for a personal computer has not been regarded as particularly important until the advent of multimedia. While the visual images presented by the personal computers compatible with those built by the IBM Corporation have undergone a continual evolution of improvement, the typical speaker system of a personal computer is a single, inexpensive speaker buried somewhere in the system unit. To exploit the full potential of multimedia, improvements in sound quality from the personal computer are necessary.
Multimedia computing is developing into at least two distinct markets: a "group" market where good sound quality for a group of listeners positioned throughout a room is important and a "personal" market where good sound quality for a single listener sitting close to the system with minimum interference with those nearby is desired. While high quality audio systems have been extant for years and provide possible solutions for the "group" multimedia market, they are not well adapted for the requirements of a personal computer multimedia system.
In general, audio systems have been designed to deliver good quality sound throughout as wide an area as possible, i.e., the entire room, without degrading directionality of the sound. In contrast, a personal multimedia system is likely to be situated next to other like systems, each of which will be running different programs. Therefore, the sound from each personal multimedia system must be delivered as locally as possible. The listeners of an audio system are apt to be scattered unpredictably throughout the room, whereas the user of a multimedia system is dependably located directly in front of the display. The required sound characteristics of personal multimedia and high quality audio for a group of listeners are different.
Further, the size and shape constraints for speakers for a multimedia personal computer display are much greater because of the premium for desk space. Speakers for a television set have more similar space and size constraints, however, they were designed to fill the needs of "group" multimedia rather than those of a single listener in close proximity to the screen.
Thus, the prior art has failed to satisfy the requirements of generating high quality sound for a multimedia personal computer display.